BayRICS testing xG Technology public-safety pilot network in three California municipalities

A cognitive-radio pilot network built by xG Technology on unlicensed 900 MHz spectrum has been deployed in three San Francisco Bay-area municipalities for public-safety communications. Initial usage has been “encouraging,” but the system will be subject to more comprehensive testing later this month, according to an official with the Bay Area Regional Interoperable Communications Systems Authority (BayRICS).

BayRICS General Manager Barry Fraser said “we’re really just getting started” with evaluations of the three-site xMax system that covers the cities of Livermore, Dublin and Pleasanton, but initial impressions have been positive.

“I was encouraged by the speed that they were able to get these things up,” Fraser said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications. “It’s a self-optimizing network, so they were able to put the sites up in less than a day each. So far, we haven’t seen any interference issues, which was something I was concerned with [when the project started].

“Things look encouraging, but we still have a lot of testing to do on it.”

Fraser said his experience on the xMax network to date primarily has been anecdotal—“I’ve downloaded videos, and they’ve worked”—but more comprehensive testing is planned in the upcoming weeks.

“We’re going to do more detailed technical tests—so we can actually measure download speeds, upload speeds and those types of things—probably in the next two weeks or so,” he said. “But, in the drive tests that we’ve done so far, the system seems to be working. The sites hand off at high speeds when users are in vehicles, and I haven’t seen any evidence of interference on the unlicensed frequencies.”

Fraser said xG Technology is assuming all costs associated with deploying the pilot network and that BayRICS has kept FirstNet officials informed about the xMax system in the San Francisco Bay Area.

“It’s a good opportunity to test some technology and see how it works in the real world,” Fraser said. “[The xMax system] is not a replacement for FirstNet by any means, but you certainly could fill in some gaps and get service in places where it might be difficult for FirstNet and do it a little more quickly.”

Yesterday, xG Technology issued a press release about the pilot network, noting that the system covers about 60 square miles and serves both stationary and mobile subscribers. Some of the applications being demonstrated on the network include push-to-talk communications, streaming video, real-time vehicle tracking and web-based emergency-operations-center functions for command and control, according to the company press release.